CM towing companies

[sonm10]

Been trying to find Centre Towing for a couple years. I have searched trunking systems, murs, gmrs, vhf, uhf, nothing.

I think Centre Towing, Collins Brothers of St. Cloud, and Burda's Towing are all part of the same parent company. Any body have any ideas what they might be using?

I did get a tow last year and saw they were using Motorola portables. I thought might be using Granite Electronics Trunking System, St Cloud, Minnesota - Scanner Frequencies but nothing.


Any help or direction would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[sonm10]

Also Shaggys towing of Melrose

 

[GlobalNorth]

Check the MN corporation commission for ownership and daughter companies or the parent corporation. You might find a corporate name that can be searched through the FCC.gov/uls website.

 

[sonm10]

Check the MN corporation commission for ownership and daughter companies or the parent corporation. You might find a corporate name that can be searched through the FCC.gov/uls website.

Appreciate the suggestion

 

[wogggieee]

Are you sure they're actually using radios? Browsing their facebook page I don't see any obvious antennas on their trucks other than what appear to be CB antennas on their big rig tow trucks. The picture of their shop has no obvious tower or antennas either. Perhaps they're just using cellphones?

 

[sonm10]

Are you sure they're actually using radios? Browsing their facebook page I don't see any obvious antennas on their trucks other than what appear to be CB antennas on their big rig tow trucks. The picture of their shop has no obvious tower or antennas either. Perhaps they're just using cellphones?

I got a tow last year and he had a Motorola portable strapped in front

 

[KD8FSJ]

I got a tow last year and he had a Motorola portable strapped in front

Are you sure that motorola you saw was a company radio? Besides the company radio, I have several motorola's in my tow truck that are for listening/ham. For radio coms we use a local DMR system, that you would not find under our company name. Those seem to be getting popular with bigger tow companies. Many tow companies still use cell/texting. I've even seen some using GMRS/FRS radios for scene coms and local BSing. Good luck on your search!

 

[sonm10]

Are you sure that motorola you saw was a company radio? Besides the company radio, I have several motorola's in my tow truck that are for listening/ham. For radio coms we use a local DMR system, that you would not find under our company name. Those seem to be getting popular with bigger tow companies. Many tow companies still use cell/texting. I've even seen some using GMRS/FRS radios for scene coms and local BSing. Good luck on your search!

Thanks. Problem is that there not on the DMR system. Also have a feeling might be ptt over cellular

 

[AAFC]

Collins Brothers of St. Cloud owns Burda's Towing along with about a dozen other towing companies throughout the state, including several now in the Twin Cities. Each driver carries his/her own Motorola handheld radio that operates on the LTE cell phone network. It looks and functions just like a standard two-way radio but it transmits and receives over the LTE network. The central dispatch for all companies owned by Collins Brothers is located in St. Cloud. Even their companies based in the Twin Cities that have law enforcement contracts are all dispatched out of St. Cloud. When James from Collins buys another towing company he keeps the original name and color scheme for that company. One way you can tell if James owns a certain towing company is to look at the unit number on a a tow truck. If the unit number looks like "CBT xxx" then you know Collins Brothers owns that company.

Edit: I have attached a picture to show an example of how you can notice a Collins Brothers truck with a different company name on the door.
Notice CBT 210 on the fender...

 

[sonm10]

Collins Brothers of St. Cloud owns Burda's Towing along with about a dozen other towing companies throughout the state, including several now in the Twin Cities. Each driver carries his/her own Motorola handheld radio that operates on the LTE cell phone network. It looks and functions just like a standard two-way radio but it transmits and receives over the LTE network. The central dispatch for all companies owned by Collins Brothers is located in St. Cloud. Even their companies based in the Twin Cities that have law enforcement contracts are all dispatched out of St. Cloud. When James from Collins buys another towing company he keeps the original name and color scheme for that company. One way you can tell if James owns a certain towing company is to look at the unit number on a a tow truck. If the unit number looks like "CBT xxx" then you know Collins Brothers owns that company.

Edit: I have attached a picture to show an example of how you can notice a Collins Brothers truck with a different company name on the door.
Notice CBT 210 on the fender...

View attachment 112944

I was afraid of LTE. Thanks for the info.

 

[AAFC]

I was afraid of LTE. Thanks for the info.

You're welcome!

I've been in the towing business for over 30 years. I can honestly tell you that listening to a towing company's two-way radio system is not very exciting at all. You might hear a "juicy" dispatch to a car crash somewhere requested by a law enforcement agency but other than that it's pretty boring. lol. However, I do understand for someone who has not been in the business it may be a little more interesting. I get it... and I don't blame you for trying.

 

[AAFC]

I just took this picture last night. This is the back side of their new companies hoodies that were given to all CBT employees. (no, I don't work for CBT) These are all the companies CURRENTLY owned by CBT. I suspect next year's company hoodie will have a few more names on it. lol

I see Centre Towing and Shaggys Towing are also owned by CBT...

 

[96zjlimited]

I use that group regularly. Way too much in fact. I don’t even want to discuss how many 10’s Of thousands of dollars a year. That being said, good people, top notch work. To answer your question, yes, PTT over LTE